Switched at birth: In 1988, a Florida calamity drew national attention

Staff Report

Sunday

Sep 8, 2019 at 4:30 AMSep 13, 2019 at 11:10 AM

Former Sarasota resident Kimberly Mays gained national attention in 1988 when it was discovered she had been switched at birth.

More than 30 years ago, another story of a child who learned she wasn't who she thought she was gripped Southwest Florida and eventually the nation.

Former Sarasota resident Kimberly Mays gained national attention in 1988 when it was discovered she had been switched at birth.

The upheaval in Mays' life began when DNA tests confirmed that Ernest and Regina Twigg, then of Sebring, were her biological parents and that she had been mysteriously switched at birth.

Kimberly sought a "divorce" from the Twiggs so she could remain with Bob Mays, the man who raised her, but she later left Mays and moved in with the Twiggs.

In 2015, Mays, who will turn 41 on Dec. 2, told interviewer Barbara Walters that she had an identity crisis during her teenage years.

“I wish I had my life back,” she told Walters. “A normal life.”

Genetic tests revealed she and another girl, Arlena Twigg, had been given to the wrong parents after their births at Hardee Memorial Hospital.

Kimberly was mistakenly entrusted to Barbara and Robert Mays, while their biological daughter, Arlena, was given to Ernest and Regina Twigg.

Later, Arlena Twigg, then 9, was tested for a congenital heart defect. She had open-heart surgery but did not survive.

The blood tests given before that surgery showed that the girl had a different blood type than her parents. The Twiggs then began to seek out their natural daughter. After finding Kimberly, the Twiggs fought to gain custody of her. Barbara Mays had died when the babies were only 2 years old, so she never knew about the switch.

Both families were awarded multimillion-dollar settlements by the hospital and agreed on visitation rights between them for Kimberly.

In a landmark case, Kimberly later divorced the Twiggs. She lived in a shelter for a time and then moved in with her biological parents just six months after winning the case.

During the 2015 "Barbara Walters Presents American Scandals" interview, Mays described her identity crisis and said “resentment” from her biological siblings drove her away from the Twiggs yet again two years later.

After spending her settlement from the hospital, Mays told Walter, her life later included two marriages and six children by four different fathers, and a stint working as a stripper to afford housing and to feed her kids.

This story originally published to heraldtribune.com, and was shared to other Florida newspapers in the GateHouse Media network via the Florida Wire. The Florida Wire, which runs across digital, print and video platforms, curates and distributes Florida-focused stories. For more Florida stories, visit here, and to support local media throughout the state of Florida, consider subscribing to your local paper.